Process for obtaining a fiber yarn from metal coated film

ABSTRACT

A PROCESS FOR THE PREPARATION OF A FIBER YARN WHICH CONTAINS METAL COATED FIBERS, WHICH PROCESS COMPRISES CUTTING A METAL COATED FILM INTO EXTREMELY FINE STRIPS, WHICH METAL COATED FILM CONSISTS OF A METAL COATING ON A BASE SELECTED FROM THE GROUP CONSISTING OF ARTIFICAL AND SYNTHETIC MATERIALS, GATHERING THE RESULTING FINE STRIPS INTO BUNDLES, COMBINING YARNS SELECTED FROM THE GROUP CONSISTING OF NATURAL AND SYTHETIC YARNS WITH SAID BUNDLES OF FINE STRIPS OF METAL COATED FIBER, CUTTING THE RESULANT BUNDLES OF METAL COATED FIBER AND YARN INTO FIBERS, AND GATHERING SAID FIBERS INTO A ROVE OF FIBER SUITABLE FOR TRANSFORMATION INTO A YARN.

United States Patent Int. or. 1502;; 3/02 US. Cl. 57-157 R 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A process for the preparation of a fiber yarn which contains metal coated fibers, which process comprises cutting a metal coated film into extremely fine strips, which metal coated film consists of a metal coating on a base selected from the group consisting of artificial and synthetic materials, gathering the resulting fine strips into bundles, combining yarns selected from the group consisting of natural and synthetic yarns with said bundles of fine strips of metal coated fiber, cutting the resultant bundles of metal coated fiber and yarn into fibers, and gathering said fibers into a rove of fiber suitable for transformation into a yarn.

The use of metal coated films in making knit fabrics and other textile articles is well known in the art, and such use is expanding considerably because of the attractive appearance and the novel effects which are obtained from such use. It is noted, however, that metal coated yarns of this type cannot be prepared in a sufiiciently regular manner by the direct metal coating of the yarns. Therefore, such yarns are now prepared by the metal coating under vacuum of generally transparent films of synthetic products of any nature which are then cut into very thin strips called laminettes whose width at times does not exceed a few tenths of a millimeter. The subsequent use of said laminettes makes it possible to achieve interesting effects, by techniques such as throwing the laminettes with other textile yarns, but these effects are much more limited than those which can be obtained from metal coated fibers associated with all kinds of textile fibers.

The fabrication of metal coated fibers is performed by cutting laminettes into short elements. This cutting which is a delicate and costly operation results in the formation of a fluff or pile of bulk fibers, without orientation, which makes it necessary to card and then comb these bulk fibers before introducing them into installations for preparing the fibers. Thus, this process raises the cost so high that in practice it is not used.

The present invention makes it possible to obtain, while avoiding several intermediate stages, fiber yarns formed, partly or wholly, of metal coated fibers which can be used in the first passage of the spinning preparation, and can produce industrially all kinds of novel effects which are more discrete and better blended than those which can now be obtained. Furthermore, a particularly novel metal coated appearance with shadow effects, which are greatly sought in hosiery making, for sewing and knitting can also be obtained.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a process of obtaining continuously a yarn of fibers totally or partially metal coated consisting in cutting a metal coated film of synthetic material into extremely fine strips, gathering these strips into bundles and treating these bundles, either simultaneously or not, with bundles of artificial, synthetic or natural yarns, on textile machines of a known type which cut these bundles into fibers and gather them into a rove of fibers suitable for transformation into a yarn.

The present invention also has as an object the preparation of yarns with a varied appearance, which have a base of fibers of metal coated artificial, synthetic material, obtamed according to this process, and the fabrics made with these yarns.

The process of the instant invention is applicable to metal coated films of any nature which are generally used for making laminettes, and particularly, to cellulose films, films of cellulose acetate, polyamides, polyethylene glycol terephthalate and the like. These films are generally fabricated as thin as possible. Depending on the use for which they are intended, their thickness can vary from a few microns to 50 microns or more. These films are generally metal coated by deposition under vacuum according to standard processes, the amount of metal deposited being the same as in the case of laminettes; this thickness can be of the order of micron; however, it is not advantageous for it to be so small in that it would be made insufficiently resistant and the effect sought would be negated. Any metal that can be deposited under vacuum is suitable for use in connection with the instant invention such as: copper, silver, or even gold. Of course, less expensive metals are chosen and most often aluminum is employed and may be employed in connection with this invention. Often the layer of metal deposited on the film is protected by a varnish having a sufficient adherence and holding, for example, a varnish with base of epoxy resins, polyester or nitrocellulose, which permits the finished articles to support the treatments to which they may be subjected, i.e., dyeing, for example.

The films thus metal coated are cut into very fine strips according to known processes applied for cutting laminettes and which processes are outside the scope of this invention, and processes making it possible to attain widths as small as millimeter.

Within the framework of the present invention, it is not necessary to separately wind each of the laminettes, which is a delicate operation because of the danger of breaks and which, for this reason, can be performed only at a limited speed. Gathering of the laminettes into bundles makes it possible to accept a higher percentage of breaks and to employ a higher speed, avoids this drawback and is also compatible with the use of more fragile metal coated films.

Gathering of the strips into bundles is easily performed according to processes usually used in spinning, in the form of reels or preferably in spinning preparation cans. The dimension of these bundles which generally is expressed in grams per meter depends on the nature and thickness of the material and also further conditions of use. A rough approximation of the dimensions would be on the order of magnitude of 20 grams per meter.

The bundles thus obtained are introduced on textile machines of known type which continuously cut these bundles or ropes into fibers and gather these fibers into a rove suitable for being transformed into a yarn.

There are various types of machines which can be employed to achieve the change from bundle to rove. For example, the converter machines in which the bundles arranged parallel are introduced between two turning rollers, one of which carries helicoidal blades, and the other which is generally covered with an elastomer material, working against it. The lap of fibers thus cut is drawn, carried by an endless belt in a direction perpendicular to the axis of the cutting rollers and, according to a known process, gathered in a rove by means of a turning roller arranged obliquely on the belt. The rove obtained then passes into a standard curling device which gives it the desired cohesion, and then it is received in a turning spinning preparation can.

Such a machine is described, for example, in the text American Handbook of Synthetic Textile by H. R. Mauersberger (pp. 228-234), published in 1952, the disclosure of which is thereby incorporated by reference.

The device described above, given by Way of example, lies outside the scope of the present invention. It can be replaced by any equivalent device which is capable of achieving the same result.

The length of the cut fibers, which are gathered in a rove, is determined by the spinning system that will later be used, i.e., a wool, cotton, or other spinning system. For example, it will be of the order of 50 to 120 mm. in the wool spinning system and a little longer in the cotton spinning system.

The above-described process makes it possible to obtain from fibers of any type, bundles, which can be used to make up one rove which can be of a variable type and make-up with a wide range of proportions of metal coated laminettes and textile yarns of any nature, i.e., artificial or synthetic or even natural, such as, for example, silk.

The roves obtained according to this process can be used directly in the first passage in a spinning preparation machine. They can also be utilized prior to said first passage, by combining said roves with other yarn roves or yarns of textile materials of any kind which makes it possible to vary infinitely the nature and appearance of the metal coated textile articles which result from the spinning operation.

The instant invention will now be illustrated by the following more detailed examples thereof. It is to be noted, however, that said examples are not to be deemed as being limiting thereon.

EXAMPLE 1 A film of polyethylene glycol terephthalate, 12 micronsthick and 1000 mm. wide, was metal coated by evaporation under vacuum with aluminum in a standard type metal coating machine. The film was thus coated on one of its faces with a layer of metal 4 to 500 angstroms thick, then wound. The film was then varnished with a commercial nitrocellulose varnish diluted to 30%, in solution of organic solvents. This varnish was applied on the film in a standard type coating machine by means of a heliographic roller. The film thus treated was passed through a hot air dryer and was then rewound. The desired color was obtained by introduction of a suitable dye into the varnish. The absence of a dye resulted in a silvered effect.

The coil 1 m. wide was then cut into 50 mm. rolls, which in turn were cut into strips 0.2 mm. wide, each roll of 50 mm. thus resulted in 250 strips which were not wound separately but gathered in bundles of 1000 strips. The density of the film being 1.4 the weight of each bundle thus formed was about 3.36 grams.

Gathering of the strips into bundles of 1000 units was performed by passage of said strips into a horizontal funnel, turning alternately one turn to the right then one turn to the left which gave a false twist to the bundle thus constituted which was then Wound like spinning roves.

This bundle may also as a still further variant, after passage in the turning funnel, be gathered in a vertical can as the spinning preparation roves are gathered in a spin ning can.

These reels or cans of bundles were then grouped together in forties to feed a Pacific Converter machine of Warner & Swasey, Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.A. The group of bundles which feeds the converter weighs as a whole close to 134 grams per linear meter. This machine comprises a cutting device with helicoidal blades which cut the bundles into fibers of a unit length of about 70 mm. which constitutes a lap of fibers. These fibers were distributed by passage between two successive pairs of grooved rollers which drew them about 20 to 30%. This predrawing was followed by drawing, properly so-called, which brings to .4 about 15' the total rate of drawing given to the fibers. This rate constitutes a maximum, the drawing being unequal between the fibers. The weight of the lap had fallen to 8 to 10 grams per linear meter. This lap then went onto the belt on which were horizontally placed, at a diagonal, grooved rollers which roll it into a rove. This rove was then taken into a curling box which gave it an increased cohesion. The rove was then gathered in a vertical spinning can driven in an alternate rotation movement which gave it a false twist and in which it was arranged in a regular fashion. The rove, whose weight was then about 6 grams per meter, was ready to go into the first passage, the mixing passage, of the spinning preparation, for example, in a mixture of combed wool strips. Mixed with six combed wool strips 20 grams per meter, this rove makes it possible to obtain a wool yarn containing 4.5% metal coated fibers regularly distributed, with a beautiful appearance.

EXAMPLE 2 The procedure of the above example was followed, but after cutting of the metal coated films into bundles, there were introduced, at the same time with them into a converter machine 14 strips of combed wool of 20 grams per linear meter. At the exit of the converter there was obtained, after drawing, a rove with a greater weight than the previous one, on the order of 20 grams per meter, which is easier to handle at the entry into the first spinning pass.

EXAMPLE 3 The procedure of Example 1 was followed, with the exception that a metal coated film 6 microns thick was employed. The weight per linear meter of a bundle of. 1'000 strips was no more than about 1.7 grams. Forty of these bundles were associated with ten strips of combed wool strips of 20 grams per meter and introduced into the converter at the cutting system exit. There was obtained at said exit, after drawings, a rove of about 20 grams per meter, comprising metal coated fibers that are finer with a better feel.

EXAMPLE 4 The procedure of Example 1 was followed, with the variation that different colored varnished metal coated films, one green, the other red, and bundles of difierent colors were introduced into the converter. Proceeding as described above in Example 1, there was obtained a multicolor rove which was then put back in the first spinning preparation pass. By mixing colors and applying the processes described in Examples 2 and 3, a great number of varied effects were obtained at the outlet.

As will readily be apparent from a study of the above examples, the process of the instant invention provide a novel and economic method of producing yarns having a varied appearance which have as a base fibers of metal coated material.

What is claimed is:

1. A process for the preparation of yarns consisting of metal coated fibers which comprises slitting a metal coated film of synthetic material into extremely fine strips, gathering the resulting fine strips into bundles, combining said bundles with filaments selected from the groups consisting of natural, artificial and synthetic material, cutting the resultant bundles of metal coated fiber and filament into staple fibers, and gathering said staple fibers into a rove filamentary material into bundles, combining said bundles 15 with filaments selected from the group consisting of 2,926,415 3/1960 Griffin, Jr. 28--1 natural, artificial and synthetic material, cutting the re- 3,099,066 7/1963 Scharf 57--14O sultant bundles of metal, coated fiber and filament ma- 3,251,097 5/1966 Faw et alt 57140 X terial into staple fibers, and gathering said staple fibers I into a rove of staple fiber suitable for transformation into 5 STANLEY GILBREATH, Prlmary EXammef 8 W W. H. SCHROEDER, Assistant Examiner References Cited CL UNITED STATES PATENTS 2 72 CS. 57 140 BY 167 2,926,415 3/1960 Griflin, Jr. 28-72 cs 2,772,994 12/1956 Lacy 57-154 X 

